John Cross, 84, of Bonita finished last year's Rock 'n' Roll in 6 hours, 35
minutes, and plans to run again this year, his 10th marathon. (ASI photo)

Twenty-three miles into a marathon, his body aching and mind fried, Chuck Hartle sought divine intervention. “And God delivers a guy in a pink tutu,” Hartle recalled. “My ego took over. No guy in a pink tutu is going to finish ahead of me.”

Thus motivated, Hartle, 52, beat the costumed character, only to learn three men had donned pink tutus, one of them finishing an hour earlier.

In 1976, there were 25,000 finishers at U.S. marathons. The 2008 figure: 425,000.

In 1980, the median finishing time for male runners at U.S. marathons was 3 hours, 32 minutes. By 2008, that time crawled to 4:16. Women went from 4:03 to 4:43.

With slower runners and walkers clogging the streets, some fast runners, their focus constantly on the clock, look down their noses at the plodders serving as speed bumps.

The back-of-the-packers, though, don't apologize for their presence.

“I'm still doing the same training,” said Sue Schaffer of Normal Heights, who has never broken six hours in four marathons. “I'm on my feet twice as long as you're going to be. You're telling me I'm not a runner? No.”

There are drawbacks to being a slow runner. When Schaffer ran the 2004 New York City Marathon, she heard Tylenol was supplying tablets at Mile 15. Schaffer cruised into the aid station.

No Tylenol.

Gone, consumed by early runners in the field of 36,562.

At about Mile 18 on a warm November morning, Schaffer counted on cooling herself with water-soaked sponges, sponsored by the TV show “SpongeBob SquarePants.”

Sure enough, sponges were strewn about First Avenue, used and discarded by runners. But no fresh ones.

“It was kind of like a graveyard of 'SpongeBob SquarePants' sponges,” said Schaffer, 51. “Yellow sponges all over the street.”

No one faults John Cross for running slow. A World War II prisoner of war, Cross turns 85 in July. Sunday's Rock 'n' Roll will be his 10th marathon. He ran his first one at 75.

Cross placed third in the 80-and-older group last year at Rock 'n' Roll in 6 hours, 35 minutes. Walking with a cracked rib in 2003, he finished in 7:29.

Cross, who lives in Bonita, admits that for safety purposes he doesn't jog nearly as fast as he's capable.

“At my age, due to vision, my stability is not as good as I would hope,” he said.